Five of my paintings are currently featured in an online art contest for PM360’s Art Attack. You may remember that last month my painting, Silver Cup, was chosen to be on the cover of PM360’s Greatest Creators. The people at PM360 had a lot of art to choose from, so they decided to show ALL of the artwork submitted and let the public decide which one they like best.
Here’s the catch though, you can only vote for one artwork out of hundreds in this online art contest Five of my paintings are included in the contest (above) really need your vote. If you already know which one you’d like to vote for click the button below. There are a lot of paintings to scroll through, so keep scrolling until you find the one you like.
If you don’t know which one to vote for in this art contest, I’ll tell you a little bit about each one below including their story and some of the materials I used. Note: some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
“Man with Hat” was part of the Sktchy #30faces30days challenge
Online Art Contest Painting 1 – Man With Hat
Pretty clever title for a painting, wouldn’t you say? This is one of the paintings I did for the 30 Faces 30 Days challenge on Sktchy. Out of all the portraits I did, this is my favorite. I found out later that I’m connected to this guy’s brother on Instagram. He is from Iowa which is where I’m from originally. I knew there was something I liked about him!
I did this portrait on my iPad Pro in about six hours using a program called ArtRage. This program has been so much fun for me to incorporate into my art workflow. I’ve done a lot of tutorials on how I create art in my iPad, so make sure to check them out if you are interested. The approach I use on my iPad is virtually the same as painting traditionally, but I have step-by-step tutorials for oil painting as well.
“Silver Cup”, PM360’s Greatest Creators cover winner
Online Art Contest Painting 2 – Silver Cup
I was so shocked to find out that this painting was chosen as the cover winner that I must have read the email ten times. It started out as a quick study on my iPad Pro and I really didn’t think I would finish it. But then I heard about the cover contest and finished it in two days. Now it’s included with all the other artwork in this online art contest, so if you love this painting please vote!
One thing about painting on the iPad is that it isn’t faster for me. If anything, I take WAY too long to finish a painting because I just don’t know when to quit. When painting on canvas, I get a feeling of knowing when to stop. I don’t want my paintings to look too realistic and perfect, so I’ll be heading back to the canvas soon to loosen up a bit. The iPad is feeding into my perfectionism addiction just a wee bit!
“Looks Like Claire” – one of my favorite dog portraits from last year
Online Art Contest Painting 3 – Looks Like Claire
This painting makes my heart hurt just a little every time I see it. I was looking for reference photos on Sktchy and came across this dog that looked so much like my dog Claire that I had years ago, that it took my breath away.
There are dogs you have a particularly special bond with in life and Claire was one of them for me. She’s been gone for a very long time, but I still miss her every day. I’m convinced that her spirit showed up inside my sweet Penelope, who recently passed as well. I’ve decided I have a bit of a dog addiction, so I’m going to wait awhile for my next pup to find me. It’s something I look forward to but have a lot of healing to do in the meantime (dog lovers will get this).
You can find the step-by-step tutorial for this painting here.
“Teapot Study”
Online Art Contest Painting 4 – Teapot Study
I like doing studies of silver and I leave many of my studies unfinished to invite the viewer into the creation process. This was part of a tutorial for painting silver objects. The tutorial works for digital and traditional painting, so don’t feel like you have to have an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to get started. You can use oil paints (this is my favorite starter kit), acrylic paint, color pencils or just plain old yellow graphite pencils. The point is to start practicing and learn something new.
Rémy the Gargoyle
Online Art Contest Painting 5 – Rémy the Gargoyle
I have a thing for Sphynx cats. I love their wrinkles and think they have very interesting personalities. They are particularly challenging to paint for a variety of reasons. You can see the post on how I created this painting here using ArtRage. I’ve also painted a Sphynx cat in oil, but have yet to finish it. Of course, maybe it is finished and I just need to add a frame and move on!
Rémy the Gargoyle is quite a famous little elfin-eared kitty on Instagram. He lives in Chicago, so he has to wear sweaters and hide in blankets during the winter. He would appreciate your vote in this online art contest, especially if you are a naked cat lover.
Thank You for Your Support
I’ve had a lot going on over the past year and didn’t have the chance to create as many paintings as I would have liked. I’m working on some ideas for new works which I’ll be sharing in the upcoming months. In the meantime, I’d appreciate your vote for one of these paintings. As an artist, it’s an honor to be recognized for my work and it’s also very validating. Each painting I do comes with a level of excitement and also a deep fear of failure, so your support of my work and the work of other artists has a lot of meaning. Thank you so very much for taking the time to vote!
